Japan will join England, South Africa and Italy in bidding to host the 2015 or 2109 World Cup. The Japan Rugby Football Union (JRFU) will submit its tender to the International Rugby Board (IRB) on Friday and is expected to include a proposal to play some matches in Hong Kong or Singapore. The winning bids of both tournaments will be decided in July.

"This is a special bid as it is a bid for rugby in Asia," JRFU chairman Nobby Mashimo said. "With the support of our friends from all 26 unions in the region, and the backing of the Japanese government and business community, we believe that we can deliver a Rugby World Cup that will capture the hearts and minds of people and provide the platform to take rugby to new levels in Asia."

Asia has never staged the Rugby World Cup but the bid has wide support in the region. Japan had been strongly tipped to win the bid for the 2011 World Cup, which was eventually awarded to New Zealand. The JRFU subsequently accused the sport's traditional powers of "passing the ball among themselves" at the expense of spreading the game globally.

With the 2011 tournament being held in the southern hemisphere, England are the strong favourites to host the 2015 World Cup and Japan the early favourites for 2019.

"This time it is not the same," Mashimo said. "We have no surprises up our sleeve, just our hearts on the table and a new JRFU at the helm ... with the country of Japan and friends of Asia dedicated to host and to welcome the expansion of the game into a new frontier."